Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-12-07
THE LABOR QUESTION.
4 Readable Pap.r on s'warfare Rgsius
Society,"

| 4 sddADie PRD-r GgW&EfaEe 4 gRfust
| Society,"
| Professor T. A. P. Barnard presents in
Fne Forum very readable psper, en-
titled "Wsr:are Against Society,"" which,
N these days Of 6isputation upon the
| "La5Or Question" is Of special interest.
| He begins by demonstrating the untena-
| 0iiity OF the grounds taken by the dispu-
ans on the on. side, that the sO-callgd
pFois of any industrisl establishment rob
! ne Ia5Orer Of his just reward. The po-
igiOn taken by them would be tenable,
ne says, If it were true that manual labor
Fss tue only force requisite TO produce
nese profits. But this particular force
IS only one Of four al least contributing
| to the general result.
These forces are, first, capital; second,
Inventive genius; third, administrative
ABILITY; ana these Conspire with labor
and with eacn other in the process OF
manufacture. InGsmuch as no ValUe can
| 1e created in modern manufacture With
out the Joint operation Of all these forces,
it follows that eecA is entitled to a dis
ITibujve share in the value which they
uuitedly produce. "N0r should thsre be
al CdtOUs distinction made between the
shares severslly allotted TO them; IS we
near, for Instance, when it is said that
labor gets wages; capital gets profits
as if wages were honorable and profits
ireprehensible What both Iaborand ca9,
| ital get is earnings and they are G ;lg--
entitled to hem. Labor may get pro- tE
too, IS well as capitol, for profits 81
nothing bat the savings from eaIL;L55
beyond the cost of maintenance"
THE POSITION OF LABOR.
rs~1,.
increase of value created By industry
should be divided among the several fac
tors entering into it's production is not
discussed. the writer considering it "suf-
acient to insist on the point that the labor
Of the operatives employed in sny manu-
tacture is only one Of the forces, aud not
by any means the most important one,
contributing to the result; and, there
fore, the claim we hear so constantly re-
teratet, and the entire net value pro-
duced belongs rightfully to labor alone, |
is simply prepOsterous. But, in !
saying thIs, it is not intended to |
sugg st that the share in this !
distribution which falls to the operative |
Iaborer, when he receives all that is |
Justly due him, is generally sufficient to |
satisfy reasonable human desire, Tor |
even to admit that this might be the case |
If all the profits of capital, commonly as
sumed to be so mOnstrOUsly excessive, |
we're TO be turned over to him. Nor Is it |
intended to deny that the lot of working |
people, in manufacture or in any other |
mechanical industry, is often hard one.
But such conditions have al
ways been the bitter lot of the majority |
ever since the world was peOpied, and it
Is not apparent that it ever can be uni
versally relieved"
AN UNTENABLE HYPOTHESIS.
The impression that poverty is unneCes-
ssry and tnat the fact Of its existence is
only i consequence OF the unequal dis
tribudon OF the worlds wealth, the writer
also considers an untensble hypothesis.
Ali the worlds wealth, if equally distri0-
uted, would not suffice to make the peo-
pie individually rich, or even to relieve
them from want, which in that case
would be universal. For what the world |
mas TO live on from year TO year Is Only
the aggregate annual product Of all the
in iustries of the world, and if this sg-
gregate product should be impartially
distributed it could at most only supply
the simple necessities of life and place
nobody in circumstances OF ease. In
quiries deliberately conducted under pub
lie authority substsnti te this fact.
THE RESULT OF An EQUAL DIsTRIB UTION
To come down to definite statements
the writer cites industrial statistics fur
nished by Mr.. Edward Atkinson of Bos-
ton, whose investigations show thai the
annual production Of all the industries in
the United States cannot exceed 5000 per
head of the population, or Sl2,000,000,-
900. An equal distribution of this
product would give to each family Of i've
parsons distributive share of $1,000 per
annum Continuing, the writer Gays:
Now, suppose inst One-third of. bese
families, or groups Of five, managed to
secure an average share of $4,000 per an
mum, the remaining tWo-thirds would
be reduced TO an average of $500
only. Suppose one-half Of this third to
be fortunate enough, or skillful enough,
to increase their average to $4,000, the
remaining half continuing at $1,000, the
average shsre of the two-thirds would
fall to $3.50 or $50 only per head, per an
nun. And inssmuch SIS the idea OF an
average implies that as many are below
it as are above it, it is easy to see that
the only way of removing the scourge of